Tariffs reduced in 1,585 categories

China will reduce tariffs on a wide range of industrial products and raw materials beginning in November, as the nation ramps up the expansion of imports to further open up its economy, the Ministry of Finance said on Sunday.

The move targets 1,585 tariff code categories, including textiles, metals, electromechanical equipment and other raw materials and products. The affected items account for about 19 percent of the total number of taxed imports in China, with the duty rate dropping from 10.5 percent to 7.8 percent on average, the ministry said.

It is an additional cut since the start of this year, when the government lowered tariffs on automobiles, medicines and some other daily consumer products.

When the new policy takes effect on Nov 1, China’s overall tariffs for all categories combined will plummet from an average of 9.8 percent in 2017 to 7.5 percent this year.

The ministry has not detailed how the general tariff cut will apply to US goods affected by retaliatory tariffs amid the ongoing China-US trade frictions.

“Appropriately cutting tariffs is conducive to more balanced development in trade. It can help further open China’s economy to the world and better coordinate domestic and foreign resources,” the ministry said on its website.

The reduction is a step in China’s effort to push forward the opening-up process and support economic globalization. The country will always support principles of free trade and the multilateral trade system based on the rules of the World Trade Organization, it added.

Liu Shangxi, head of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, said lower tariffs on some electromechanical equipment and parts will support imports of advanced technology and equipment from overseas, increase supplies in the domestic market and facilitate the industrial upgrading process.

The reduction of the tariffs on some raw materials can reduce production costs and support the development of environmentally friendly industries, Liu said.